The House Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that it has subpoenaed former White House communications director Hope Hicks for documents and testimony as part of the panel’s investigation into whether President Donald Trump and his associates obstructed justice and engaged in public corruption.
Hicks, along with other members of the president’s circle, have been given until June 4 to submit all requested documents. She is expected to testify before House Judiciary lawmakers on June 19. The panel has also issued a subpoena for Annie Donaldson, a former aide in the White House counsel’s office, for documents and a private deposition for June 24.
Donaldson was a top aide to former White House Counsel Donald McGahn, who on Tuesday defied a subpoena from the committee to testify. President Trump had directed McGahn not to appear.
“The redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report documented alarming misconduct and obstruction of justice by President Trump. Donaldson and Hicks were critical witnesses to this behavior,” a statement via the committee reads.
The subpoenas come as Democrats debate how to respond to Trump’s declaration that he will fight “all of the subpoenas” from Congress.
More Democrats are calling for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump after he blocked McGahn from testifying.
A growing number of rank-and-file House Democrats, incensed by McGahn’s empty chair in the hearing room, are pushing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other leaders to act. Their impatience is running up against the speaker’s preference for a more methodical approach, including already-unfolding court battles.
Pelosi has summoned them to a meeting Wednesday to assess strategy.
Some other Democratic leaders, while backing Pelosi, signaled that a march to impeachment may at some point become inevitable.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said if a House inquiry “leads to other avenues including impeachment … so be it.”
Meanwhile, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), has argued Democrats are “trying desperately to make something out of nothing.”
Collins spoke at a hearing Tuesday, where Nadler issued a stern warning that McGahn would be held in contempt for defying a congressional subpoena and failing to appear before the committee.
Nadler said that if McGahn doesn’t “immediately correct his mistake” in not showing, the committee will have to enforce the subpoena. McGahn was a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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